So just like that the decade is over!   Hope your 2009 was as great as mine, and here’s hoping that 2010 is even better.  Lots of new work and projects to share in the coming weeks and months which I’m very excited about.  So check back soon, thanks for your support, and see you in the new year!

Long time no post!  Apologies for the extended silence but I’ve been kept fairly busy with professional work, freelance work, personal work, and grad school – all while trying to maintain a healthy social life (important!).

Some updates since the last time I’ve posted – The Sky Fisherman got into the Character Modeling 3 book put out by Ballistic Publishing – you can check it out at the link below.  It’s an honor to be included in this collection of some of the best modelers in the world (my stuff totally sucks compaired them!).  It’s definately worth checking out for the brilliant tutorials and page after page of inspiration.  http://www.ballisticpublishing.com/books/dartiste/character_modeling_3/

I’ve got about 8 (!) finished models I still need to render and post up to the site, I’m hoping for a few free days over holidays to get around to that.  Finished Time Trap, 4 characters for an animated TV series being developed by Shiny Pear studio, 2 characters that were turned into 3D prints for a client, and a totally new character named Yack… so check back around early January for those updates.

Big News!  I’m going to be taking a short break from Grad School to work as a Character Modeling intern at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, CA!  I’m looking forward to working at a studio with such rich history, alongside some of the best artists in the world.  Check back soon for pictures and updates!

Hey all, apologies for the lack of updates, freelance work has taken priority and I haven’t had too much free time to work on personal projects lately.   But check back soon for the final updates on ‘TimeTrap’, as well as a new character I’ve begun working on named ‘RecordLove’.

In the mean time, I’ve been invited to give a few Character Modeling demos at this year’s Game Developers Conference here in San Francisco.  This’ll be my first time at GDC and I’m looking forward to seeing the conference and giving the demos.

So if you’re going to be in the Bay Area next week, drop by the booth and say hi!
Here’s a link to the official Dominance War page with all the info:  GDC 2009

Happy New Year everyone! – I hope your 2008 was as fantastic as mine, and here’s to an even better 2009!
I’m back home in the DC area for a few weeks, so updates on Time Trap and some VFX projects I’ve worked on at school will be posted up as soon as I get a chance.  Talk to you next year!

As I mentioned in one of the earlier posts, I’ve been working on a Ad for HP Wireless Printing.  One of the shots required a specific camera move on the printer – but the film crew didn’t get the shot, so they needed a fully accurate 3D model of the printer to perform the move on – and thats where I come in.  The printer was done using the PowerNURBS plugin for 3ds Max.  It’s very good for complex curves and hard-surface shapes.

The model has been handed off for texturing, and I’ll be getting back to work on the Time Trap project soon.
 

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

I’ve arrived and unpacked at my new place in San Francisco.
I’m already loving the new environment, and excited to start taking some VFX classes here at AAU!

Once I get a bit more settled in and into the groove, I’ll start posting some new work.

Just a week since Siggraph and I’m already busy preparing to move to San Francisco.
Washington D.C. has treated me well, and I’m really going to miss everyone here - but the Golden Gate calls my name.

I’ll be taking a few Grad School classes at the Academy of Art University, while finishing up my modeling reel and scouting out the bay area studios.  So wish me luck, and if you happen to live in the bay area and want to meet up, just shoot me an email.

See you all on the other side of the US!

I’m going to be attending Siggraph 2008 in Los Angeles this week.
Looking forward to seeing everyone from the previous years and meeting lots of new people.

I’m also going to be hosting some video coverage of the conference for CGSociety over the week.
So keep an eye out for the videos being posted daily on the Siggraph forum at CGTalk.com

This weekend I Directed a team of 20+ people to create a film for the 48 Hour Film Project.  The 48HFP is a nationwide contest where teams in major cities have 48 consecutive hours to write, shoot, edit, and deliver a 4 to 7 minute short film based on a genre we pull at random.  It was a lot of fun to work with many talented people who are as passionate about filmmaking as I am.

Our film, titled ‘Dead Man’s Hand’, is a western about two men having a showdown over a woman they both claim is rightfully theirs.  Here’s a still from the film showcasing our three leads:

If you happen to live in the Richmond VA area, be sure to come by the historic Byrd Theatre (2908 West Cary Street, Richmond, VA, 23221) to check out our film screening on Saturday, July 26 at 4:00PM.

I’ve taken a short break from the Sky Fisherman project to photograph an older project that I’ve wanted to share for a while now.

The Flame Guitar is a full size, playable guitar that I designed and built from scratch in my spare time.  It was a hell of a process to build something so complex - and me being the dumbass I am, just happened to come up with the most difficult shape possible for a guitar (you have any idea how hard it is to sand in-between all those tiny flame grooves?!)  Wish I gave that a little more forethought in the design process.  Anyhow, be sure to check out the final photos of the guitar in the tradtional gallery.

Some quick stats:
Drafted the body design in 3ds max, Full maple body (one heavy mofo), 100% hand sanded and filed to get the contours on the sides,  No access to a router or milling machine (I wish it was that easy), and custom mixed dye for the final color.

Once again, I participated in the 48 Hour Film Project – this time for the Baltimore area.  It was a lot of fun to work with many talented people passionate about making the best film we could in 48 hours.

If you happen to live in the Baltimore area, come by the Charles theatre (1711 N. Charles Street) to check out our film on Tuesday June 17th at 7:30PM.  The title of our film is “2024” by the Karma VS Mojo team.

I’m going to be giving a demo titled ‘Character Creation: Concept to ZBrush’ at the next DC Siggraph meeting on Wednesday May 14′th.  It should be a fun night – I’m gonna go over how I created the Venetian Gondolier and Sky Fisherman models, as well as some of the Character Modeling tips and tricks I’ve picked up over the years.

And as a special bonus, we’ll be raffling off a full copy of ZBrush 3.1 for a lucky someone in the audience!
So if you’re in the DC area, mark your calendars and invite your friends for this great evening presented by DC Siggraph.

Where:  BAE Systems, 8201 Greensboro Drive, McLean, VA 22102
When: Wednesday, May 14 from 7pm to 9pm

Over this weekend I participated in the 48 Hour Film Project for the Washington DC area.  The whole deal is you’ve got 48 hours to write, cast, shoot, edit, and deliver a 7 minute short film based on a genre and character they assign you at the beginning.  It was a lot of fun and I met a lot of wonderful people who are as passionate about filmmaking as I am.

If you happen to live in the DC area, come by the AFI Silver theatre in Silver Spring MD to check out our film on Friday, May 9′th, 9:30PM.  The title is “Who Killed Larry” by the Karma VS Mojo team.